Gear Cleaning

[bowlofpetunias]

Gear cleaning means different things to different people. We all know that proper maintenance of gear involves regular cleaning. How do you go about this? Do you have any tricks or shortcuts to share?

One of the things we considered when we looked at houses to buy... how and where would we be able to clean our gear. Some people consider that strange but then they also consider it strange that important factors in buying our car were would we be able to carry two full sets of dive gear including 4 cylinder and the ignition key size/options.

For our "Normal" around home salt water dives. We both have our roles loading and unloading gear.

Fish rinses the pavement off where we clean our gear while I unlock the house and start the warm water running into the laundry tub. I start unloading the passenger compartment while he unloads the boot. While he spreads the gear out on the pavement and rinses it I take the regs, torches, masks and "hardware" and put it in the warm water in the laundry tub to soak.

The big tub outside is filled with water and wetsuit wash. The gear that has been rinsed is then thrown in the big tub which I climb into and employ the "Grape Stomper" agitation technique. Once I have sufficiently stomped the smaller items; Hoods, gloves, vests, swimsuits and socks are handed to fish to hang on the pool fence to dry. Next the exposure suits are thrown in and well stomped. Sharkskins get draped on the fence to allow the bulk of the water to drain out then hung on hangars to dry. Wetsuits go directly onto hangars. Next the BCD's get stomped and hung out. Boots may be cleaned this way or left to soak with some deo-odorizer/antibacterial product. Boots also get hung on the pool fence. Weight belts get a quick rinse.

While I do the stomping routine fish hoses down the fins and tanks. The rest of the gear is unloaded from the car. Towels hung out to dry, weights, save a dive kit, O2, Defib and other supplies are put away. Dive tub is rinsed and propped up to dry. I have timed it. From the time we pull up till everything is either put away or cleaned and hanging to dry is close on to 30 minutes. Adding another set of gear to the process does not add a significant amount of time to the process.

If we do an evening or night dive from home and one of us isn't working the next day. We will occasionally put all the gear in the tub with wetsuit wash, weigh it down with weights and tanks overnight to be cleaned in the morning.

We used to rinse the inside of the BCD bladder with fresh water after every dive but we don't do that every time now. We also disassemble, clean and inspect the masks for damage once or twice a year. Camera housings are soaked with the "hardware" in the warm water in the laundry sink. Orings checked and greased for every dive.

When we are away on a dive trip we rinse/clean gear according to what is available. Regs, Camera Housings and "hardware" are always brought to our room for proper cleaning and checking. When we get home from a dive trip, we are moving from one season type of gear to the next or we notice the gear getting a bit smelly it gets a more thorough clean and soaked in BioZime (deodorant/antibacterial product for dive gear).

This gear cleaning process probably explains why after 20 years of diving the zipper still worked easily on fish's old BCD and our gear lasts well.

I know with fresh water diving the cleaning process may not have to be as thorough unless there is a lot of algae or muck. We don't tend to do freshwater diving.....

 

[spectrum]

You can read my methods here.

In the spring/summer fall when we're active a dedicated garage bay becomes the dive locker with geat tables, hanging rack, drysuit dryer, ventilaton fan etc all integrated. We have a cement slab area with the sun warmed rinse barrels waiting and place to stage gear off the ground. out of the van, through the rinse station and stowed in the dive locler. When diving with my wiode we also have out roles and can cycle the whole deal in :40 including a porta potty if deployed. I should do a feature on the layout next summer, it works out pretty slick for us.

In the end it's pretty much staged for a quick reload for the next outing.

Pete

 

[gypsyjim]

I am basically a no frills type. I purchased a large plastic children's wading pool for soaking gear in at the end of a trip, I follow that with a rinse with the hose in the driveway and then I hang everything on the deck railings overnight to dry. This works quite well, for summertime trips anyway.

Mid winter trips are more problematic, living here in the great white north, so it's into the bath tub, where they are soaked, rinsed, left to drip dry a while, and then I hang everything up to dry in the tiled basement rec room. Gear hanging racks are a good use for all of that dust collecting exercise equipment.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Summer time, the stuff gets thrown into the pool. Then I jump in for a rinse and bring all the items to the side where they are then hung to dry. In the winter, everything goes in the bathtub and gets washed as I take my shower. Every few dives I rinse well the BC bladder, and even less often add a capful or so of Listerine to swish around before emptying..

 

[gypsyjim]

Summer time, the stuff gets thrown into the pool. Then I jump in for a rinse and bring all the items to the side where they are then hung to dry. In the winter, everything goes in the bathtub and gets washed as I take my shower. Every few dives I rinse well the BC bladder, and even less often add a capful or so of Listerine to swish around before emptying..

I too use just a drop or two of Listerine in the bladders. I do not leave it inside though, and drain it completely afterward.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I haven't heard of the listerine trick before. Thanks!

Once the water stops running off the gear we move it under the pergola to dry so it doesn't get too much sun. Other than the boots which take longer. When it is dry it goes onto the Scuba shelves or on the Scuba hanging rod in the Garage.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Right Jim.. use it to rinse the bladder, but don't leave it in. You will get some residual and the next time you manually inflate your BC it will be fresh and minty.

BoP, theory behind using the listernine is to rid the bladder of the funkies..

 

[uncfnp]

I add white vinegar to the water when I soak my gear. The theory is that it will aid in salt deposit removal and odor control. It's for calcium deposits rather than salt but we also use it to flush our tankless hot water heater once a year (dont know if it works the same for salt though). And I prefer the vinegar solution to rinse the bladder as well rather then alcohol based listerine. I also work all the zippers while soaking and any press any buttons.

i use baby shampoo to clean at the end of a dive trip. Rinse. Then a dip in "odor eater" solution and drip dry.

 

[Hatul]

For inside of boots I use some pet odor enzyme spray before drying in the boot dryer to keep odors down.

 

[Divepink]

All my gear is washed outside in a bath tub with detergent and then allowed
to drip for thirty mins then I take inside out of the sun and
in a controlled environment.

garages and sheds can set damp and mould in winter especially
I'm lucky to have ample cupboard space in the spare room ...

I also place a Hippo Moisture Absorber
in the cupboard it's suprising even with dry gear what moisture
that stuff collects I had gear serviced not long ago and they said
the regs and first stage where still new internally and there four year old now ...